WIRED

The Wired mission is to tell the world something they've never heard before in a way they've never seen before. It's about turning new ideas into everyday reality. It's about seeding our community of influencers with the ideas that will shape and transform our collective future. Wired readers want to know how technology is changing the world, and they're interested in big, relevant ideas, even if those ideas challenge their assumptions—or blow their minds.

WHAT’S A BIG INTERVIEW? • In which wired’s global editorial director, Katie Drummond, hallucinates.

Readers worry about the world and hold forth on hypocrisy. • In our September/October issue, Sandra Upson dug into the controversial research behind an urgent warning: According to two sibling scientists from Denmark, the main current system that churns the Atlantic Ocean could collapse within decades. Lauren Smiley told the story of a gregarious Brazilian immigrant and rideshare fraudster, and Laura Kipnis experimented with a new venture, Rebind, which lets you read classic texts with AI versions of literary superstars.

INSIDE THE UNCANNY WORLD OF TIKTOK HOME REMODELING • Turn a tree into a luxury apartment. Retrofit a bedroom for a million children. The videos are bizarre—and going very viral. Who’s behind them?

WAIT, GO BACK • To mature as programmers, newer generations need to take a lesson from Google’s programming language.

THE INFLUENCE MACHINE

A FULL-TERM GIG • Hiring someone to carry your baby to term is a booming business. The market for surrogacy is expected to expand to $129 billion by 2032, fueled by older parents, rising infertility, and more same-sex families. Silicon Valley contributes to the growth too: Tech companies like Google, Meta, and Snap pitch in up to $80,000 toward the six-figure cost of the process. ¶ Yet it’s still controversial to “rent a womb” (as detractors call it). One human rights expert for the United Nations said that commercial surrogacy “usually amounts to the sale of children.” Critics claim the practice exploits poor women who are not fully informed of the hazards; in fact, the United States is one of the only developed countries that allows pregnancy for profit. ¶ The stereotypical gestational carrier is a stay-at-home mom who wants to earn income without leaving her kids. Many surrogates do fit that mold, but backgrounds and experiences vary greatly. One West Coast surrogate who has carried two sets of twins for parents in California and China opens up about what it’s been like for her.

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THE BIG INTERVIEWS

THE DAD-ROCK DIPLOMACY OF ANTONY BLINKEN • Two major wars. A rising China. Hackers everywhere. He’s from the US government, and he’s here to help.

THE SICK (AND SLOW) BURNS OF JOSH JOHNSON • The comedian tells jokes the way he found fame: slowly, and then all at once.

THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE OF MEREDITH WHIT TAKER • Signal’s president wants to remind you that the world’s most secure communications platform is a nonprofit. It’s free. It doesn’t track you or serve you ads. It pays its engineers very well. And it’s a go-to app for hundreds of millions of people.

THE MIDLIFE NOT-A-CRISIS OF MARK CUBAN • Though he’s soon to be out at Shark Tank, the billionaire has a massive new “disruption” in the works. He’s certain it’ll save lives.

THE ULTRACOOL CASH GRABS OF BOBBI ALTHOFF • She went megaviral after that Drake interview. Now the TikTokker turned podcaster is out to prove her worth—by being herself.

THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES TRAE STEPHENS • The venture capitalist and cofounder of the defense-tech startup Anduril has worked with Donald Trump, Peter Thiel, Palmer Luckey, and Elon Musk. As he sees it, Jesus would...